


Of New Friends and Departures

by CaptainCoughdrop



Series: Disasters [8]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Actual history mixed with my bullshit, Gilbert and Mathias family feels, Mathias having a generally bad time, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-03-11 13:48:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13525557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainCoughdrop/pseuds/CaptainCoughdrop
Summary: ‘Matvei! Are you listening?’‘Yes, tovarishch,’ answers Mathias flatly, ‘Stalin good, Tito bad. I got it down.’Part 9 of the Disasters verse





	Of New Friends and Departures

**Author's Note:**

> Poor Mathias, I seem to be putting you through an awful lot of shit in this story and it’s only going to get worse. Anyway, the actual real-life history behind this: the Tito-Stalin Split occurred in 1948, when conflicts between the two leaders caused Yugoslavia to split from the USSR and become neutral. Also, I know that Stockholm Syndrome was a term coined in the 70s, but I couldn’t think of another way to put it, so pretend for a minute.
> 
> As for the introduction of Cyrillic as the national script in Denmark, Japan and Mongolia, it is actually accurate for Mongolia. I’ll get round to describing why it happened in Japan in another fic, but as for Denmark, the attempted defection shook the Soviet government and made them want to bring the Danes further under their control.
> 
> But why was Denmark bombed for trying to leave, but Yugoslavia left alone? You ask. It’s because when the communists took control of the country in 1945, it was with minimal Soviet intervention, as Tito was- at that point- loyal to Moscow (all true). However, the Danish were forcibly invaded, so there’s a strong military presence there. Also, as the most Western territory, I feel like a lot of value would be put on keeping it.
> 
> Anyway, that’s my little speech out of the way. I hope you enjoy!

In 1948, Magdalena marches out of Ivan’s house and never comes back.

For every day after that for months, Ivan lectures them all on the terrible agents of Tito, how they are awful and bad and, alongside agents of ‘the West’, are responsible for all great hardships.

Everyone left in the house- Feliks, Toris, Yekaterina, Natalya, Erzsébet, Gilbert, Kiku, Khulan, Vasilica, Nayden, Daniel, Anastazie, Martin, Gjokë and Mathias- sit and nod and agree with him in dull voices, because that’s just what you do when Ivan starts lecturing. Mathias sits between Kiku and Gilbert and thinks that Magdalena should give her government some pretty serious high-fives once she gets home.

Part of him is slightly regretful- he likes Mags, she’s a good friend, always ready with a laugh or ridiculous anecdote that everyone doubted but everyone laughed at. He’d miss how she always held her long caramel-brown hair back in any number of scrappy ponytails, so long as it was out of her face, and how on those rare days when they had enough food she’d make them all pljeskavica, a spiced meat patty made up of lamb, pork and beef. Over the last few years he’d gotten to be really fond of these people, all of them, and her presence will definitely be missed. But mostly he just congratulates her on escaping this hellhole, and didn’t hesitate to hug her and wish her luck when she was saying her goodbyes.

In one way, her departure helps- food is getting scarce, and it’s one less person to feed. As it is, all of the adults, other than Ivan, puts part of their ration into Raivis’ and Daniel’s portion at each meal. Mathias knows logically that this isn’t because Ivan’s selfish, and instead because he’s so far into this delusion that his country’s system is working that he can’t see the facts right in front of his own face, but it’s less than a year since the fire bombings, and Mathias isn’t all that inclined to feel charitable to the man at the moment.

It isn’t helped by the fact that Magdalena leaving seems to have pushed Ivan further into insanity and paranoia- he worries even more than before that they’re all going to defect, now that one of them actually has. Gjokë is punished in Mags’ absence, even though it’s not his fault, and the slightest misdemeanour on everyone else’s part means a trip to the KM to have your face rearranged.

In the June of that year, the Russian government, and the puppet government in Denmark, introduced Cyrillic as the new writing system for Danish. It works well enough, to Mathias’ vague annoyance. Since the ‘a’ and ‘o’ are the same in Cyrillic as the Latin alphabet, the Danish letters ø and å remain the same, as does æ.

It’s not just his country, either- Mongolia and Japan get the same treatment, which works well in Mongolia, with the addition of some new letters, but fits Japanese less well. However, a totalitarian government is a great way of getting people to do what you want, and it’s put into place anyway, even though it doesn’t really fit. There is no extended macron in Cyrillic, so ‘ō’, for instance, just ends up becoming ‘oo’, which confuses everyone. It’s clunky and doesn’t quite fit right, but they have to put up with it anyway.

Ivan, naturally, insists that both systems are absolutely perfect, the most perfect things in the world, and Mathias and Kiku don’t bother wasting energy arguing with him. Arguing with Ivan over these things is much like smacking your head against a brick wall, except the end results are a lot more painful.

‘Matvei! Are you listening?’

‘Yes, tovarishch,’ answers Mathias flatly, focusing back in on Ivan. His face is flushed, his eyes gleaming as he expounds the values of Stalin’s communism. Or that was what Mathias assumes he’s yammering on about, anyway. He doesn’t really listen anymore. It got old after the four-thousandth time, to be honest. ‘Stalin good, Tito bad. I got it down.’

Yekaterina gives him a despairing look from where she’s cooking dinner, but Gilbert grins covertly at him, so Mathias knows he’d got the main gist of the conversation down.

For a long minute, Ivan just stares at him, blank-faced, and Mathias curses his poor decision making. Although Ivan annoys him, it isn’t worth a night in the KM over it.

Thankfully, Lady Luck is on his side tonight, and after a tense few seconds, Ivan turns away to bark an order at Gjokë, who- having been Magdalena’s bestie since they both arrived here- is under deep suspicion.

Mathias longs to leave like Magdalena did. Even to just set foot in his home would be a blessing, but he can’t. Ivan wants them all here in his house, where he can keep an eye on them, and every official from here to Berlin has been notified to immediately arrest them if they try to escape. Besides, Mathias can hardly leave Gilbert behind. He probably couldn’t even if he tried, actually- since he emerged from Kiku’s quiet but determined care a month ago, his cousin has barely left his side. Gilbert doesn’t say anything, because he knows Mathias well enough to know that he wouldn’t appreciate it, but Mathias catches the horrified expression that crosses the albino’s face whenever he catches sight of the ugly burns when they’re changing for bed at night or take off their shirts in the heat of the summer sun while they’re working. (The full body burns have all but faded, now, but there is an ugly scar over his heart (Randers), one over his left shoulder blade (Kolding), and one over the side of his left knee (Frederiksberg), which- despite what people seem to assume- is the worst one because he still keeps opening it when walking.)

Plus, now that he’s allowed out of his creepy basement room, Kiku is another of his friends. Turns out you really bond with a guy when you’re both locked in a Siberian basement with literally nothing to do but make conversation. Now that Kiku’s out, he often spends time with Khulan, but he also comes to sit with Mathias and Gilbert, and even wrapped in bandages and sometimes looking so defeated that it hurts, he has a sly sense of humour that Mathias enjoys.

In fact, Mathias would miss all of these people, if he were to leave. He’s really fond of Daniel and Raivis- referred to as ‘the kids’ behind their backs. Plus, Erzsébet’s always been a good drinking buddy, and he, Gjokë, Nayden and Anastazie have some excellent drinking games. He also supposes that it would feel weird, now, to be sat in the living room at night and not hear the low bickering of Khulan and Kiku as they poke fun at each other. Martin and Vasilica are a lot of fun, too- Martin has enough sap in him to fill a tree, but he’s kind, and Vasilica has a wicked sense of humour. So does Feliks, when he’s in the mood, which he is more and more nowadays as he slowly recovers. And Yekaterina is kind and gentle and loving, and Mathias has even become friendly with Natalya (who he quietly groups in with ‘the kids’, though he’d never tell her that) although they still antagonise each other. Toris is, of course, a sweetheart, and Edouard, for all his faults, will always step in where Raivis is concerned.

This is a dangerous train of thought, Mathias knows- just one step closer to Stockholm Syndrome- but he can’t help it. For all that living in this place is a complete nightmare, these people have prevented the last few years from being wholly unbearable, and he appreciates that. It’s an entirely selfish thought, but, as he tucks into today’s cabbage soup surprise (the surprise is that there is no surprise), he can’t help but hope that no one else leaves unless they can all leave together.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m trying to get across that Mathias is slowly getting more serious and less positive as time goes on in the Union. I won’t make him an entirely depressing and humourless character, but he’s having a tough time of it.
> 
> Tovarishch: comrade, Russian


End file.
